Bulldogs defeat Dadeville 5-2

Wednesday

May 29, 2013 at 3:15 PM

Chuck Embree

Ryan Seidel pitched Sturgeon’s baseball team to a third place finish in the 2013 MSHSAA Class 1 State Championships played late Wednesday morning at O’Fallon.Seidel scattered three base hits, a pair of walks and he fanned five batters over the course of 6.1 innings to guide the Bulldogs to a 5-2 victory over Dadeville.This was the second straight season Sturgeon (16-2) reached the state finals under head coach Kevin Hicks. Last year the program finished fourth.Sturgeon’s only senior, Spencer Kelly, was handed the ball to record the last two outs from the mound. He struck out one batter. Kelly was the tough-luck loser in Sturgeon’s semifinal loss the night before losing to Oran 5-2 in a game that the Bulldogs surrendered 4 unearned runs.Sturgeon scored a run in the second frame when William Roberts reached on an error, and courtesy runner Dakota Beckfield eventually scored on a dropped third strike call against Hunter Smith.Seidel was given a 3-0 lead to work with after the third frame with the aid of a couple of unearned runs.Dadeville closed within 3-1 in the fourth, but Sturgeon added 2 insurance runs in the fifth.Sandker led off with a single in the bottom of the fourth for the Bulldogs and took second on a wild pitch. Roberts line a one-out single, then Smith stroked a 2-run single to left for a 5-1 lead.Dadeville’s other run arrived in the top of the 7th and had two runners on base, but the rally ended there when Kelly came in relief of Seidel.A double steal attempt failed when Chris Long was tagged out at home plate by catcher Roberts for the second out and then Kelly recorded a strikeout against Nick Yocum to end the game.Hunter Smith paced Sturgeon’s six-hit attack going 2-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBIs against Dadeville.Trenton Kalinowski had a double, while Tanner Sandker, Derek Sneller and William Roberts all singled during the game.Losing pitcher for Dadeville (18-9) was Matthew Sappington, who went the distance. He yielded six hits, three walks and recorded three strikeouts.Sante Fe is playing Oran in the championship game this afternoon.